SEAL Of My Heart (21 page)

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N
ext morning, she
took him to the little Bistro three blocks from her cottage, bordering the Square. The town was made for lovers, he thought. Funny, now that he was fully in the throes of new love, he saw couples all around him. He noticed stolen glances between men and women he might otherwise have overlooked. His radar was set, fixed on this warm chocolate feeling that somehow just being with Kate would ease the problems of the whole world.

Every time he thought about his Team’s upcoming mission, he purposely forced it out of his mind. Kyle had told him it was going to be especially dangerous, even though it would be a short one or should be a short one. There were still no guarantees.

They’d managed to get the terp, their Afghani interpreter, out after last deployment, which had been an incredible feat. He’d never known the Navy to move so fast to relocate a valued American ally. But it meant the family of their terp—Jack Daniels, or Jackie, which wasn’t his real name, but the name they could use in public when they were in the middle of a mission—his family was left behind. With the recent fall of several cities thought to be American-friendly, Kyle said Jackie’s family was being hunted and some of them had already been captured and killed, including the parents of the young lady friend Tyler and the Team had rescued a year ago from an evil warlord.

Now the whole country was overrun with warlords. Chaos was the order of the day. Without significant American forces as backup, the SEALs were being sent in quietly to rescue people trapped in the carnage and extricate them.

Lying in Kate’s bed with her favorite things displayed all over her walls, the sunlight beginning to bring a blush to the sky, the normal stuff of life, he’d have to say, the Juice of Life, was a banquet spread before him, his to partake of for a few hours.

This was what he was fighting for, so Kate and people like her could enjoy themselves and be kept far away from the death and destruction of an imploding society. He watched the way her porcelain skin rose and fell, her muscled thigh draped across his, the way her breasts felt as she slept against him. Everything about the picture was pure chocolate, warm, and apple pie. The birds began to chirp in a nest tucked under a nearby eave and still she slept, secure in his arms, as it should be.

He brought his palm up to tousle the hair at the back of her head. She jerked at first, and then softened and gave a delighted groan when she felt him underneath her. Her hand slipped up his neck and then her fingers walked across his lips as she raised her messed-up head with the hair all over everywhere and gave him that sexy good morning smile he’d had imprinted on his brain. He’d remember this every morning while he was away. How she needed him. How exhausted he had been, how so freakin’ happy he was to have this woman in his arms. He decided if his life was limited to just these two days with Kate, it would have been worth it.

“You want to get up, get some breakfast, Tyler?”

“Um hum. Whatever you want, sweetheart. Might not be too many good places open this early.”

“I can think of something we could do for the next hour or so until the coffee shops open.”

“So can I, but you sleep, baby. I love just lying here feeling you sleep on me just like this.”

Kate did the opposite. “Gotta get up to work, lover,” she whispered. Rising up by propping her beautiful torso with her forearms placed against his upper arms, she let her breasts gently swipe against his, kissed him sweetly, but let it develop slowly just like he liked it. She teased him, made him advance on her, using their tongues to mingle and taste. His fingers moved down the small of her back, over the dimples at the top of her butt cheeks, down the sexy cleft until he could feel her wet peach.

Groaning and undulating against him, the press of her pubic bone against the large muscles of his thigh triggering his own need, lit the bonfire he knew would consume them both.

This delicate creature was made for him. He knew he’d finally found home, after all the years of looking in hookup places, in schools, in bars and with friends, the woman of his dreams was begging him to make love to her again, and damn, he was all in. Would be all in until she rang the bell.

After all, he never would.

She insisted on
wearing the T-shirt he’d had on yesterday. She didn’t have a bra, so her knotted nipples peeked deliciously through the thin white cotton fabric. Sitting across from her at the coffee house, he was constantly aware of her breasts swinging toward him, plump and inviting. She’d slipped off her jacket and the tee had fallen off her shoulder so her bare skin tempted him, too.

Over her coffee mug, her dark brown eyes dared him to be inappropriate with her. The foam of milk on her upper lip stayed just a couple of seconds until her pink tongue swiped it clean. She leaned further forward and gave him a kiss that tasted like coffee candy. The suction of their lips was making noises. They could have been slurping oysters, but it was a coffee shop with other breakfast patrons nearby, and clearly Kate didn’t care. She’d have fucked him on the table if he’d asked it of her. He knew that about her already.

“I’m getting all turned on just watching you drink coffee, Kate,” he said, low enough for her ears only. A young woman sitting at the table next to them looked up.

“I can see that. It turns me on when you’re turned on, baby.”

“No worries there,” he said as he massaged her bare foot that had migrated under the table from her clog to his groin. “I love everything about you.”

She partially closed her eyes and seemed almost to purr.

“I love touching you everywhere, baby.” His fingers slipped up her leg from her ankles to squeeze her calves. “I like seeing you come, lose control.”

This time the young woman glared at Kate, not at him, so he chuckled.

Her look of focused need and complete hunger was a thing of beauty. His whole life he’d wanted a woman to look at him like that, with that kind of a fever for him, a flame only he could extinguish. He loved setting her on fire and feeling them both burn.

He drove her
to work in her little SUV, their fingers entwined over the center console. The day was going to be warm. Cars were everywhere even though it was early on a Saturday morning. Shops were being set up, sidewalks sprayed off, cappuccino makers were squealing, runners and cyclists speeding along on their focused quests. He thought perhaps he’d take a nice ten-mile run while she was working. He wanted to explore the beautiful Dry Creek valley floor they were traveling along. Maybe he’d bring her lunch. He could find a vineyard that was private, maybe find a little shady spot with a blanket…

He knew they were close because that deep crease at the middle of her forehead was there, signaling the return to her previous life. Not what her life was going to be like from now on, but her previous life. With
that
guy.

Through the tall pillars marked with a large H logo identifying it as Heller Estate Vineyards, he drove up the crushed granite drive to the tasting room. It was a modern two-story stone and wood structure with oversized doors and windows. Rows of lush, bright green vines were maturing all around them. The soil was dark and freshly tilled. The front of the building had stainless steel containers bursting with flowering plants.

She directed him towards the side, where he parked. He turned in his seat, put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. “Showtime, baby. Go sell some wine.”

He could tell the way she lingered in his kiss, she didn’t want him to go.

“Shall I walk you in? You want to show me off to anybody, anybody named Randy, perhaps?” He allowed his feral look to descend upon her, including a half smile á la Captain Jack Sparrow.

“That wouldn’t be very fair, now would it? Put you in an awkward position?” she said just before she let herself out of the car.

He got out quickly and ran around to meet her, giving her a hug, not letting her go. “I’m not in any awkward position. Besides, I loved all the awkward positions you put me in all night and early this morning.” He kissed her in front of whoever might be looking. “I’m thinking of those positions, baby. Those you did for me, those little private lap dances, and I love it.”

She was blushing as she took his hand and led him into the snake pit of the tasting room. She didn’t seem surprised to see two people standing near the bar. One was an attractive, rusty-red-haired young woman about Kate’s age and the other was a handsome, graying older man. And then he recognized the redhead. They’d had a one-night stand in San Diego. A very drunken one-night stand. And the lady had been a blonde then.

Holy fuckin’ shit. What were the odds?

Tyler recognized the older man from the website photos he’d studied.

“Mark Heller. You must be Tyler.” The man extended his hand and shook Tyler’s with a firm grip. His face was hard to read. His lips formed a thin line yet his eyes seemed genuinely warm.

The young lady’s eyes got huge as a sly smile curled up her lips. She didn’t eye him like girls often did in San Diego at the beach, not bothering with anything but his package. That’s how she’d been that night, and he’d fallen for it. But now her eyes flirted with him openly, sending an alarm straight to his gut. She was thinking about outing him with Kate regarding their night of sex. She was toying with him and enjoying it.

“And this is my friend, Sheila,” Kate said.

Sheila’s blue-green eyes, enhanced by contacts, delivered the cool message that she was available if Kate should suddenly have a change of heart, or if he did. Maybe even hinting she’d be more likely to keep quiet if he’d show her a little attention again. He’d had to work damned hard the first time to get rid of her. She had been such a frog hog to all the Team guys down there, she even broke up a couple of marriages.
Holy fuckin’ hell. I’m screwed.

Kate appeared to be completely oblivious to Sheila’s wayward charms. Or maybe it was just the sexual energy those types of girls had—something that translated to men but couldn’t be picked up by other women. He’d been a magnet for that kind of woman in the past. They seemed to know he would cave easily if they came after him. But he would never call them back.

Not ever.

Kate was going to be his forever, and it didn’t matter how long or short it was. He wanted her tight against him. He hoped to God he could get Kate alone to explain if Sheila—and was that even her name?—if Sheila opted to play dirty. He certainly knew she was capable of it.

“Nice to meet you, Sheila,” he said with a slight bow, ignoring her outstretched hand. Her eyes got murderous but her smile was all vixen. It was a challenge he had totally lost his appetite for and would not accept.

Heller addressed Kate with coolness. “I have some things to go over first, if you have a moment, and then I’ll not interfere with your work.”

“Of course,” she said. Turning to Tyler, “I’ll only be a moment. Wait a bit for me?” She gave him a quick kiss on her tiptoes, and he whispered yes.

Her innocence caused him pain, especially since the woman he wanted to forget was swaying from side to side, eager to be able to speak with him alone. He wanted to be anywhere but there. Kate allowed herself to be led to a distant office, where Heller waved to Tyler before closing the door behind her.

Sheila was going to take a chance, he just knew it. He’d already had serious questions about her friendship with Kate, just from Kate’s comments about her. Now he knew why. He knew the type. Snakes, the worst kind of people on the planet. Male or female they wreaked havoc wherever they went. Sheila was a user. And Kate didn’t realize it. Problem was, he had very little time to convince her without upsetting the whole apple cart.

He’d have to deal with Sheila as best he could. Based on how it went he’d be able to figure out the best course of action.

“Tyler, afraid to shake my hand? Afraid to touch my body?”

“Shut up. This is not appropriate.”

“Oh, you like all kinds of inappropriate. I know you, Tyler. How many times did we do it?”

“It was one night. And I was drunk.”

“But I know you remember. I see it in your eyes, and if I’m not—” her eyes had dropped to his groin.

“Not happening. Nothing here for you, Sheila, if that’s even your name.”

“I’m not offended you don’t remember my name, Ty.”

“What about
leave me alone
do you not understand? What kind of an idiot do you think I am? You honestly think I could ever want to be with someone like you if I wasn’t shitfaced? You’re a fuckin’ bitch in heat and all the guys knew it. You didn’t snag one of them. We all figured it out.”

“Just a minor setback. I’ve moved on. I’m enjoying myself up here, playing the field. Got a little house, some savings. I’m not the penniless tramp you thought I was. Things have changed and have been looking up for me.”

“Glad to hear it. Now keep away from me and from Kate, or I’ll tell them what a bitch you really are. I suppose you’re going after Kate’s Randy, too.”

“What do you think? I bring him something he can’t get with Kate. You know, I can’t help myself.”